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I wonder what happened to her after the Dr. Phil interview?


Someone had set up a GoFundMe account for her but then it was said they took it down because Shelley was collecting disability benefits and she could've lost her benefits by taking in too much money. It was stated at the time the person who did this actually knew she couldn't accept any outside money and they were going to take what was donated and give it to Scientology because the person who set it up is a member. don't know if that was true or not.

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Eeeek!! I had no idea she was in that state (!) Just watched the interview on youtube. Still, she has refused medication...there's little you can do for people who refuse help.

Her performance in Robert Altman's "3 WOMEN" is amazing. It's sad to know this actress who always appeared somewhat luminously unhinged was, in fact, becoming unhinged over time.
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Some people were saying they thought she might have dementia instead of mental illness, but they ruled that out. I thought that as well because it's unusual for someone to be diagnosed with schizophrenia in their 40s. Usually they are diagnosed that way in their teens or early 20s I always thought.

I did know this guy that used to say all of these crazy things like she was doing but he did it to get SSI benefits. He admitted he wasn't really schizophrenic but learned a lot about it and how to act to convince therapists, doctors and Social Security workers he was.

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https://www.datalounge.com/thread/22250591-shelley-duvall-

Shelley Duvall lives in Blanco, Texas - a town one hour west of Austin in the Hill Country - as a recluse . She's become the town "lunatic" and many of the small town folks treat her like she's completely crazy. And she does seem to have issues but she's not crazy. I've seen her in Blanco and I've talked to her a couple of times. She asks all the people she meets to "call me Shelley". I get the sense that her life is devoid of meaningful relationships and human contact. I think the National Enquirer kinda took advantage of her a few years ago and now she's more wary than ever of people trying to get close to her.

I have a weekend home in the Hill Country so that's why/how I know all this stuff.

—Anonymous

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What does “luminously unhinged” mean? I know it’s not a clinical term. Does it mean something like “someone whose emotional disaster is fun to watch”? That’s sadistic.

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I have not seen the interview. What is wrong with her?

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She is extremely delusional and paranoid....and isolated.

This is the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWKctZeACK8&t=1418s
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Thank you, I am very sorry to hear it. Thanks for the link.

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Sure : )

ROLLING STONE magazine said << A sad Dr. Phil interview with an unrecognizable Shelley Duvall hit the Internet last night that shows the actress clearly suffering from some sort of mental illness. Among other things, she says that Robin Williams is living as a shapeshifter, Robin Hood's Sheriff of Nottingham is somehow threatening her and there's a"whirling disc" implanted inside of her leg. "I'm very sick," she says. "I need help." Dr. Phil has been widely criticized for putting Duvall on television in this state, especially since she's been out of the public eye for 15 years and so clearly needs expert care and not press exposure. >>
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I watched a few minutes of it, and had had enough. Dr. Phil had for a long time exploited people for his show. I haven't watched it for years. It seems she might be schizophrenic, it is quite sad. I remember as a girl, watching Faery Tale Theater hosted by Duvall, so I remember her fondly.

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FAERY TALE THEATER was brilliant!

Yeah...I don't know what to think about how this was all approached. It's kind of the culmination of reality-based-entertainment/society. Now instead of being brought to the hospital, your breakdown in broadcast on TV (?)

On the other hand, it was more productive than having her sit alone in her home.
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I think her family could have gone about it another way, but perhaps going on an interview might be the way to get her into therapy since she is an actress and going to an interview would be something she would have recognized. I think the part that bothers me is she is obviously insane, so any consent she could have given to be filmed could in no way be construed as informed.

I have a few episodes of Faery Tale Theater on Dvd, I was that fond of it as a child.

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I also could only watch a few minutes from the beginning and the end. Very sad.

I'll always remember her as the eccentric woman Alvy Singer had a date with when he broke up with Annie Hall.

Playing a kooky or eccentric character is one thing, but putting the woman on display when she is clearly mentally ill is another thing entirely. How could Dr. Phil exploit someone in her condition?

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I haven't seen Annie Hall *hangs head in shame*. She'll always be Olive Oil to me.

I think Dr. Phil is motivated by money more than anything else.

An ethical psychologist woul not parade his patients for all the world to see their pain. It is exploitative, but maybe it helped get her help in this case, since she is an actress and going to an interview would have been normal to her.

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Yes....it's somewhat of a gray area. As history runs along and times change, thoughts on what is and is not professional evolve.

For instance, there was a HUGE outcry in 1991 when the definitive biography of Pulitzer Prize winning poet Anne Sexton was published, with the cooperation of her surviving daughter (and literary executrix). Sexton was bipolar, and had been in and out of therapy and mental institutions her whole life, and her doctor (with her knowledge) would tape record their therapy sessions. The tapes were found in Sexton's files after her suicide, and used as background research for the book, and occasionally quoted in it.

Obviously a million thorny issues presented themselves along with this...but with an eye to the Greater Good (which is of course interpreted differently by everyone), it was the right thing to do in this particular case. Sexton's poetry had always been autobiographical and confessional, and her daughter felt the late Sexton would have wanted the tapes to be used when examining her life (and work).

This is the New York Times review of the book, which mentions the controversy: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/18/books/the-death-is-not-the-life.html?pagewanted=all

This is their article about the use of the tapes, before the book was released: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/15/books/poet-told-all-therapist-provides-the-record.html?pagewanted=all

I'm less familiar with this 2012 development - - but I guess the tapes are now the basis of their own book (AN ACCIDENT OF HOPE) which is discussed in depth HERE: http://www.apadivisions.org/division-39/publications/reviews/anne-sexton-therapy.aspx
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Thanks for your reply. I seem to have remember hearing about Anne Sexton's poetry, but I did not know the details. It is something that vaguely bothers me when reading Emily Dickinson, because she expressly wished for her poetry not to be known.

I think about Jane Austen's letters to her, as well. Her sister Cassandra burned most of Jane's correspondence after Jane died. I know the world feels robbed, but I admire the act.

If Sexton's daughter felt that Sexton would want them published, that is a different situation than Dickinson and Austen's.

Thanks for the links, I'll look at them now.

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I read the links, she was certainly troubled. I do not know if the tapes should have been shared with the public or not. I understand the literary worth, but it is like looking at a naked person who does not know they are naked. Sort of an embarrassment on both parts.

She had a terrible life. It makes me feel guilty about feeling sorry for myself.

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Plaintivemelody- Don't feel bad because you missed Annie Hall! But I highly recommend it.

As for Dr. Phil, well I would say he is motivated by money, that's not unethical in itself.

His guests have serious issues but they are still AWARE that they are on TV. For whatever reason, they want to air their family problems for everyone to see. Maybe not the wisest thing, but they are at least complicit in their own exploitation.

There is a difference though between psychology and psychiatry. I saw an interview that Bob Newhart gave. He said he wanted his character, Bob Hartley, to be a psychologist ( what Dr. Phil is) and not a psychiatrist.

He explained that his character could deal with all sorts of quirky behaviors, anxiety, and personality problems. But he couldn't take a lighthearted sitcom approach if he played a psychiatrist who was dealing with much more serious mental issues.

Psychiatrists treat much more serious disorders like schizophrenia which can't be handled with talk therapy. I don't think Dr. Phil is qualified to deal with an illness like Shelley Duvall's. She clearly needed a medical doctor, not an interview!

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Thanks, I'll have to get around to watching Annie Hall one of these days. I know it is a classic.

I know some of us guests are aware of what they are doing, but I wonder about all of them. If someone is having run of the mill marital problems, or something of that nature, I don't think it would be that serious, but even a psychologically troubled person may not really realize what they are doing when spreading their issues for the world to see.

I know Duvall did not need an interview, but I wondered if it was a vehicle used in order to get her to a psychiatrist.

Thanks for replying. I did not know that about Bob Newhart's show, but it makes sense. People who are very disturbed are rarely figures of humor and are more often figures of pity.

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That's very interesting, I'm watching the Bob Newhart Show on dvd right now, great show and it has aged well too.

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Dr Phil treated her like a piece of garbage, like a freak show. He coaxed her into the interview promising her publicity, money and mental health awareness. I'd physically assault him if I saw him on the street.

Too bad about her, she was beautiful when she was young. The kind of girl you'd want to marry, if it wasn't for her fragile brain

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It was painful to watch. I felt bad watching it. It seemed like he didn't even give her hair or make up, just sprung the interview on her as she walked in the door. I'm sure they were trying to make her appear worse. Horrible. His show is either exploitation or an infomercial I find. i used to like it. I'm not sure it changed or i did.

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doctor phil is worse than the bumfights guys; at least those dudes arent pretending to be decent...

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